Victorian emergency services have declared that the bushfire blaze that has destroyed 12 homes is now under control.
After burning for several days across the Ballarat area, authorities revealed that a change in weather conditions helped get the fire under control.
The Country Fire Authority announced they consider the Scotsburn fire contained, whilst the fires burning in the state’s north-east are also within containment lines.
The emergency warnings issues for Barnawartha, Indigo Upper, Indigo Valley, Levena and Levena West have been downgraded to ‘watch and act’ from the ‘emergency warning’ level.
Almost 4,600 hectares were affected by the fires which destroyed 12 homes, severely damaged four, and destroyed 30 sheds.
The Country Fire Authority has revealed they are confident that the changing weather conditions will assist the department in keeping the blaze under control.
“What we’ve got is fairly stable weather patterns for the rest of the week,” said James Todd from the CFA told news.com.au.
“We’ll have cooler weather and more light breezes, with a lot less chance of fires starting from natural events.”
“The forecast for Christmas Eve and Day is low 30s, a bit warmer in the northeast,” he said.
“But we’re saying to all Victorians that we’re only in December – and that means we have two more months of fire ahead of us.”
Over 500 emergency services personnel have been deployed to help fight the fires, which are rumoured to have been started by a spark from farming machinery.
